A Bitter Night
by GummyWormValkrie
Summary: Robin uncovers a secret his sister Mary has been keeping, and ultimately decides to exert the necessary judgement on her. Rated T.


_This is longer than most of my other ones because it's only one chapter. By the way, I need to clear some things up...__**Mary has a son and a daughter - Morgan and Lucina. Robin has two daughters-Morgan and Nah. Mary's husband is Chrom. Robin's wife is Nowi. I keep forgetting these simple family dynamics. I will stop now, I promise.**_

* * *

ROBIN WAS SOMEWHAT RELUCTANT TO VENTURE OUT ALONE following Severa's injurious evening stroll. His sister had gone out of her way to convince everyone that because she had brought Severa to the medical tent in the precise time, she was the snarky young girl's savior. But the really irritating part was that Mary was the one who had bullied Severa into fleeing the camp in the first place, and Robin remained convinced of Mary's guilt in that particular situation. The smallest and darkest portion of Robin's heart almost wished Severa had met her end; at least then, he would be able to rightfully label his sister as a murderer. Wanting heartily to avoid Mary, Robin decided a brief survey of the camp area before his bedtime was necessary in order to protect his sister's body from more of his anger expressions.

Like most, Robin liked the dark calmness of the night. He walked along slowly, looking around him every few minutes to ensure no large animal or stray Risen was lurking in the patches of trees surrounding him. A small lantern was his only light, the sun fully down in the sky, but it was enough to illuminate the bare minimum. Normally Robin wouldn't have minded Lucina's or Nowi's tagging-along, except he was too riled up at the moment to enjoy anyone else's company. Besides, he had a silver sword equipped at his belt and his fighting prowess was already superior to Severa's. It would take a small army of powerful Risen to fell him- and even then, he wouldn't stray farther than, say, ten minutes' distance from camp.

Robin's keen eye caught something poking up from the ground a few minutes into his stroll. Curiously, he shone his lantern in its direction. It seemed only a stick, but was almost black in color other than a typical wood-brown. As Robin got closer, it looked more like a nugget of charcoal, only it was revealed to be about as large as half the length of Robin's forearm when he knelt down to observe it. Up close, it looked more like a bone of some sort, judging from the nodules at each end. He reached out a gloved finger and brushed the object, and an ashy film appeared on his finger. More rubbing, and a sliver of white appeared in the grayish covering. Suddenly Robin felt a small prickle on the back of his neck.

What in the world was a burned bone doing here? Robin took over a minute to stand back up, feeling baffled and slightly unnerved. Once his light expanded to the ground again, he saw that there was more of them nearby. Stifling a quiver in his spine, he tallied the various types his lantern could discern. In faint horror, he realized this was an almost-complete and definitely human skeleton... Robin stared hard at it to ensure he wasn't misrepresenting this image, his mind reeling over any circumstances that these bones should end up here, and burned almost to ashes…

Once Robin could compose himself, he saw there was unfortunately nothing left on the bones that left them identifiable. Robin could only discern that this skeleton had been from a person slightly taller than him, but couldn't even tell the gender of the person with only the bones remaining. He concluded it was most likely just another enemy soldier's framework; the only mystery was how it was burned up like this.

_If that's the case, it doesn't need to be buried. …This would be useful to show to Mary- next time she screws anything up, I'll be there to rub this damned charcoal in her smug little face. Maybe that would finally teach her._

Rising back up, Robin checked one last time that no clothing or other trinkets were found on the remains. There was nothing left that wasn't a handful of ash, and so Robin continued his circling of the campsite with just one, tentative backward glance. Wondering on something like this likely wouldn't help him to solve this mystery.

* * *

Strangely, Mary had decided four or five days ago to introduce another unit to the already-impressive Brave Swords. Though the newcomer was another summoned Outrealm traveler, she was quite a bit different from the voiceless pawns previously hired for emergency assistance. This white-haired, rather imposing-looking girl went by the name of Rain. Her ability to speak and a definite personality had led Robin to conclude that, unlike the others, she was a fully-complete human, which he found rather intriguing that she be allowed real human essence.

Rain had arrived equipped with impressive fighting ability- though not quite as powerful as Robin or Mary, she atoned for that hindrance with much greater caution on the battlefield than Robin's show-off sister. Not to mention, she also wasn't an ultra-delicate Falcon Knight, again unlike Mary. If Robin could remember seeing Mary gravely wounded by an arrow or wind magic, he could recall that a dozen more times. On one occasion, Robin had physically dragged Mary out of the enemies' range when she was within an inch of death from just a few arrow strikes. But so far, no major scares with Rain, despite her relative newness to the army.

Finally, all the common shenanigans and never-ending jokes Mary would make (regardless of where she was) didn't quite amuse Rain. Most of the time, she even seemed annoyed by them. Already, Rain had pointed out several times to Mary that, "If she doesn't stop constantly joking, nobody would take her seriously anymore". Put simply, Rain seemed much more of a competent leader and advisor than the semi-crazy, undersized, scruffy-haired girl that had led them up until now.

Ultimately, Robin decided that if Mary didn't shape up soon, he would have to take desperate measures and crown Rain as the new leader. His only obstacle was Mary's binding to the army's real commander- but Robin felt he could get around even that if he tried. Mary was rather easily persuaded.

_Heck, why do I even give her a chance in the first place? She can't prove herself; Rain can. I might as well demote her to lead flying unit right now!_

* * *

Just one more of Mary's curious quirks was her liking of training- which was nearly always restricted to one-on-one battles, held away from the campsite. Robin had stopped trying long ago to change Mary's habits. By this time, he was also beyond caring if Mary got herself injured and be unable to send for help. Even if she was beaten… Well, okay, Robin didn't want that. Still, he nevertheless let his sister do what she wished, trusting whichever partner she chose that they would ensure she made it back alive.

This particular night, Mary had chosen Rain to be her battle partner. As usual, they were located in a little clearing that was several minutes away from camp. Morphine had also come along, even though Mary had at long last listened to Robin's demands and reclassed into a somewhat-sturdier assassin. She had formed quite the close bond with her unicorn in the many battles they'd shared.

"Rain, stand over here. You ready to block my attack?" Mary asked, backtracking ten paces from the Grandmaster. Rain nodded, keeping her eyes locked on Mary's weapon. Dodging attacks was really the best way to remain alive on the battlefield; no unit was invincible, especially not in the tougher times the Brave Swords had recently become involved with. Rain bounced a little on her heels to prevent her knees from locking, a basic tactic she had known since her first fight. She gave Mary a confident smile, holding her own blade ready.

Just before striking, Mary tilted her weapon upwards. In one broad stride at a running pace, she lurched forwards and purposefully slashed Rain. Rather than sliding off the gold-plated armor she was wearing, the blade pierced it through, moving into the fabric and then to her skin in a split second. The training blade in Mary's grip wasn't a training blade at all-it was a deadly sharp Killing Edge, and now it was dark with blood.

_"No…"_

Unable to comprehend the instantaneous effect, Rain stumbled over her own feet and collapsed on the hard dirt. Next to her, Mary took a few steps away to protect her boots from the spreading blood, feeling satisfied that her experiment was a success. Rain had blocked her strike with the silver sword she held- Mary had seen her do so perfectly- and still she was able to kill her in a single strike. Without guilt in her, Mary watched Rain roll onto her side, tensed arms falling onto the ground like twin rocks. In the almost complete silence of the area, Mary could hear Rain's noisy breathing shudder. It took seconds to falter, and then faded.

After the last death twitch resonated in Rain's body, Mary turned away, but rather than walking away merely called to Morphine in a soft voice. The unicorn lazily plodded out of a clump of trees nearby, Mary's son seated on his back. A small torch lit his vicinity and showed the apprehensive look in his eyes. He demounted next to Mary, trying to avoid the sight of Rain crumpled nearby.

"So, I suppose... it worked?" Morgan whispered as though spies were lurking behind him. Mary nodded, about to offer her son shelter under an arm but retracting when she realized Rain's blood had somehow reached it.

"Thanks for coming to help." Mary spoke, softly. "Yes, it did indeed. It seems I certainly am able to bypass defenses. Though I may need more tests in the future..."

"Okay, but can we just get this over with?" Morgan interrupted, looking pale at the sight of his mother's handiwork. Mary gave a slight nod, and eager to finish his errand Morgan hastily stepped to Rain. He let the flames touch the edge of the girl's cloak, which quickly strengthened and began to circulate her frame.

As soon as the smoke appeared, Morgan backed off, jumped on Morphine and hightailed back in the direction he had arrived. Mary stayed behind for a few moments, producing a drawstring bag and dusting a small layer of special powder on Rain's now-blazing body to reduce the scent of her hair and flesh as it burned away. Nothing could be left, or she risked discovery.

For all her morbidity, Mary wasn't quite pleased at the sight of Rain's skin beginning to burn and turned her eyes away from it, instead pulling out a card from deep inside a pocket. Shining on the thick paper was an image of Rain, once more untouched by blood or flame. Mary felt a smile as she reminded herself that all she needed was one incantation to revive another copy of the white-haired avatar.

* * *

Back at the campsite, Robin certainly didn't miss having Mary around, but her invisibility in these exercises was getting to be suspicious. It took him quite a long time to get out of the circle of campfire stories he had been enjoying, and he nearly responded in affirmative when Lucina asked to come along. Reminding himself of the furious teasing he'd probably be subject to if he did, Robin contended with bringing along his daughter for company.

"Do I have to, Father?" Morgan asked pensively, trying to form a classic begging-puppy face. It was highly effective, but Robin smiled and shook his head.

"Well, why not? I thought you loved night rambles." Robin said, feeling disappointed.

"I do. But… well, you know Severa's getting sick, Noire says her wound's probably infected. I thought I'd stay behind to cheer her up." Morgan explained, smiling again. "Is it okay if you go alone?"

"Fine, fine. But only because you were so nice about it." Robin relented, rubbing his daughter's hair affectionately. Morgan hugged him in thanks before heading back to the medical tent from which she came, and Robin heard Severa's irritable voice in some sort of complaint before he turned to leave. Going alone to fetch his simpleton sister was least on his list right now, which was why he needed to get it done before anything else could be pursued.

Robin was so deep in silent anger that he actually bumped into Morphine, making the unicorn snort irritably and flap his powerful wings. Robin looked up to see Morgan dismounting, who looked distinctly nervous about some unknown event.

"Morgan, where's my sister?" Robin inquired without preamble. Morgan took quite a long time before replying, looking extremely uncomfortable and not meeting his uncle's eyes.

"Ummm… she's just a few minutes to the south, Robin." Morgan stuttered a little on his explanation. Robin reached out to comfort him, but drew back when he realized there were small tears collecting in the boy's eyes.

"Hey, you need to tell me what happened!" Robin said more forcefully, but remembered to lower his voice in his next sentence. "…Sorry, Morgan. I need to know what went on here, you're clearly upset."

"I don't want to." Morgan turned away, though not pulling out of his uncle's arms. "Mary can tell you…"

"Why can't you?" Robin persisted, feeling confused. _What is going on here…? Is my sister blackmailing her own son now or something?_

Morgan twisted out of his uncle's embrace and hurried away before Robin could stop him, something he had not done before. Morphine and Robin watched the boy go, the unicorn giving another quiet snort as though saying, "Let him be."

"Morphine, come with me." Without waiting for a response Robin started to run, already convinced his sister was concocting something ghastly. Morphine followed dutifully, lightly butting Robin's hip with his broad nose as though encouraging him to keep moving.

"Hey- Morphine..." Robin stopped, seeing a small glimmer of fire in the darkness. Ignoring him, Morphine trotted ahead before Robin, apparently as interested as he in deciphering Mary's location.

Robin arrived in a somewhat familiar clearing, though his sister wasn't in the immediate vicinity. A large fire burned near the epicenter, spewing thick, grey smoke into the area. At that Robin was intrigued- normal fires didn't cause _that _much smoke, that much was certain- and took a few steps closer. Morphine kept his distance, naturally wary of fire as he had always been.

Yet when Robin looked into the flames, he saw not tinder or wood feeding them. The smoldering heap enveloped by flames was actually Rain's body, or at least what remained of it- her cloak was nearly burned away, the flesh beneath it vanishing, and yet still she was recognizable. Clearly Rain was dead, but that revelation did not reduce the revulsion popping in Robin's chest.

Utterly speechless, Robin stood still as Rain's blazing remains. His sharp mind already knew not only what lay in front of him, but _how _it had gotten there. This was Mary's work. That, Robin knew as soon as he heard the startled gasp a few feet away.

"ROBIN! Wh-why are _you _here?!" Mary stammered, jerking Robin from his trance. At first, however, Robin was unable to form articulate speech, staring at what was left of Rain's once-beautiful face. He couldn't fathom why she was now feeding a small fire...

_...Were Lucina in my position, I certainly know what she would do. _Robin thought, narrowing his eyes. He felt his fists tighten.

"... Mary."

Morphine glanced up at Robin's voice, twitching his ears sideways in curiosity. In direct contrast Mary looked distinctly nervous.

"R-R-Robin... I-" Mary was about to formulate a lie for her justification. However, she got no further than two words because Robin had bent down and put his hand an inch from the fire. Not heeding the dangerous heat Robin's fingers opened, but he could not extend them far enough to touch Rain's face. Morphine pawed the ground behind him, giving a very small grunt that was swallowed by the crackle of the fire.

Ready to speak to Mary at last, Robin lifted his hand and straightened up but did not look at his sister. His brown eyes remained on Rain as he spoke.

"...So, Mary. It seems... like I've misjudged you, thinking you would confine your nonsense to the boundaries of sensibility..." said Robin, faintly but rather menacingly.

Mary did not answer. In truth, she could already feel panic but was set on fighting it. She slowly slid her eyes away from her brother, and Robin continued without further pause.

"I can only guess that this isn't your first time with murder, Mary. I never told you this, but a week ago, I found bones here..." Robin paused, words suddenly becoming difficult. He was still not clearly processing what he saw below him- it could well be just another nightmare... They were often highly realistic...

"I assumed it was just that of an enemy... but I couldn't explain why they were so _burned_... And therefore, I believe you're smart enough to understand my conclusion?" Robin finished, the last few words emerging with considerable difficulty.

Again, Robin's sister had nothing to say. She simply nodded faintly, feeling her heart begin to fluctuate. Typically, she was quick to panic when she was unsure of what the immediate future held. Morphine turned his face to her placidly, though he didn't move any closer to his master.

"Are you a murderer, Mary?" Robin's voice cut through the near-silence.

Mary's eyes widened at the question. For the first time her lips moved, yet nothing conceivable emerged. Robin pressed on in an even more foreboding voice.

"How many people does a person have to murder to _be _a murderer, Mary? More than two? Am I _missing _something here?!" Now that her brother's voice was rising, Mary finally spat out a half-sentence of "...No... You're..."

"I can't believe this!" Robin shouted, clenching his fists and stifling the urge to kick the ground when reminded of Rain. "Mary, do you even realize what you've done?! You've taken lives! _Innocent_ ones! And what in the world _for_?!"

"Urgh... Y-you don't understand!" Mary protested, attempting to sound angry but terror covering up much of it. "I only- Robin, it's not _murder _if I can _bring Rain back _at a-any time..."

"Really, Mary?!" Robin shouted. "Would it not be murder if I approached your son, split his spine in half and threw him into a fire? After all, you haven't _had _him just yet because he's from the future, so there will be a _replacement!_ Any objections to that?!"

"Leave my son out of this..." Mary shook her head violently, desperate that Robin wasn't being serious. By now Morphine was a little agitated by all the yelling, yet he remained still and observant.

"You think I'd hurt anyone just for the sake of hurting them?!" Robin's voice was now completely overcoming the soft background noises. "I must admit, Mary, I certainly have had some suspicions regarding you lately... Your love of battle... For all I know, _you_ were conspiring to kill Severa earlier!"

"S-So..." When Mary's voice broke through his ranting, Robin stopped immediately, glaring. Beginning to shiver with her predicament, Mary struggled to eject her proposed sentence. "...You want to... to take my life, R-Robin? ...Is that what you want?"

"Mary, listen to me." Robin's voice seemed somewhat calmer, though it sent nervous pulses through Mary's veins. "I do not _want _to kill anyone. You are my sister, you are related to me in a similar way to my daughters. Of course I don't want to take your life, rest assured that it gives me no pleasure..."

No matter how sincere her brother was really being, Mary felt that last statement was just a blatant lie. If it wasn't, then _why_ did he seem so calm and composed all of a sudden?

Robin hesitated a little before speaking again. "...Yet, I will do this. You have committed murder, on at least two separate occasions. Therefore, Mary, you have forfeited your own right to be alive, I believe."

Mary was almost unable to react. All she could seem to think was _You have to be kidding me..._ _If I'm in a nightmare, then wake me up...And if not, damn my idiocy. _

"So what do you want to tell me before, Mary? ...What are your last words?" Mary could tell Robin was sincere in his contention just by actually looking at his eyes. They were distant and detached, as though he were looking at a stranger he had no connection with. Once again, Mary asked herself if any of this was reality or just another nightmare.

"Are you actually..._ serious _about this?" Mary already knew the answer. All she wanted was to hear it from Robin's mouth. And indeed, her brother asserted his claim without the twinge of doubt or regret Mary had also expected.

"Don't try to move me from this, Mary. I've made my decision, and I don't need anyone else to tell me I must let a murderer live. If anybody asks... You were ambushed, or you took your own life."

_Who's the real criminal here? Me, or the boy who's going to kill the leader of his army and then lie about it? Seriously, damn my stupidity...!_

"...Okay." Mary let out a very long sigh. She was surprised by the lack of terror she felt- only a sort of disappointment was in her. Mary had never feared death from the day she "understood" what happened to someone after it, but she was still bothered by one factor. What on Earth would her children do without their mother?

"The only thing is, I guess... I want Morgan and Lucina to keep growing without me." Mary spoke, sounding slightly strong in her voice. "I love them more than I knew anyone could love their children, Robin. Tell them how much pride I took in them, and that... that they should put aside any sad feelings for me..."

"What do you mean?" Robin interrupted. "I certainly won't encourage them to grieve for you, but...Mary, you simply aren't showing much resistance to this, and I find that strange..."

"What's to resist?" Mary answered. "It's just _dying_, Robin. It just means the end of my life, nothing more. I've never been troubled by that."

"But it's like..." Robin stopped, eyebrows meeting as he tried to speak his thoughts. "It's like you did this on _purpose, _with the intent to make this happen..."

"No. I don't want to die at all, Robin- I'm just not afraid of it. And yes, I believe I do deserve it. I never wanted to be discovered, and I thought I wouldn't, but I can't escape my punishment." Mary finished, bowing her head with an air of finality. After Robin had processed her words, she added, "I have nothing else to say now."

"Nothing? Mary, these are your last words." Robin reminded his sister, still cold and far away in his tone. Mary nodded without any further vocalizing. She would not let herself say anything more, because if she would start she could not trust herself to resist breaking down. Even _thinking_ about her emotions could be risky in this position, which was no mean feat considering Mary's feeling-oriented mind.

"...Very well." Robin whispered, awkwardly staring at the ground and stepping away from Rain's wreckage, still feeling revulsion over it. Mary lifted her head when she felt his flickering shadow overtake him, but in her brother's familiar face there was little evident emotion. Morphine padded a few steps closer, avoiding the fire, as though he knew what was about to happen.

"Mary, I don't want you to suffer, at least not more than necessary. ...So, in that case, how would you... What do you want me to do?"

_Wow... I never thought I'd say these words so soon... Or to my own brother. _

Mary went over the few possibilities she thought available- strangulation was too undignified and Robin would be tempted to release her before he could finish, she thought. There was no immediate way to poison herself, either. For Mary, the option was obvious.

"Robin, would you... ah, would you have any objections to..."

"To what?" Robin persisted.

"...Listen, this isn't a clean way to die, but I think... I think the best thing you can do, assuming you want to do it right here and now, is... throat cutting." Mary's voice sounded calm rather than desperate with fear.

"What?! Mary, that's... that's _brutal..._" Robin protested, starting to feel unwell about his proposal.

"Do you have any other... suggestions?" Mary interrupted again. Robin opened his mouth to object, yet his slightly numb mind gradually remembered that he had no other suggestions. He shook his head faintly, looking back at the dwindling flames. He needed to do this- sparing Mary was not only unjust and an insult to Rain, but also dangerous- how could he be confident in trusting his sister ever again? And after all, Mary still _was _the same creature that had put the army's own children through unimaginable horrors in her conquest to defeat all of humanity. Robin had not supported the popular decision to let her live at her time of judgement. If Mary was forever dead, then Grima was forever dead. If Mary was alive, Grima was alive and exerting at least some measure of control over her.

With that in mind, Robin removed the small knife from his belt in front of his sister's watching eyes. Those green discs, centered with a large black circle, followed Robin's blade as it traveled halfway across her back and became still an inch from her neck. Mary felt her brother's arm wrap firmly around her back, almost completely circling her. Her unicorn once again failed to come any closer, merely watching them without much obvious interest.

"...Be quick about it, Robin." Mary murmured.

"I will do my best."

"Wait... one last thing." Mary blurted suddenly, closing her eyes and shamefully lowering her face. "I don't want you to be blamed for this. So tell the Brave Swords... tell them that I took my own life."

"...Do you think they'll _believe_ that?" Robin cried. "Do you think your children can imagine you doing that, in a million years?"

"They will, before they believe Robin murdered his own sister. ...And make Rain the new leader." Mary finished by closing her eyes, vowing not to open them ever again.

For the longest minutes he had ever endured, Robin simply stood still. The silence between the siblings was so stifling that even Morphine's elevated breathing seemed loud, and dying crackle and snap of the fire almost drowned out Robin's thoughts.

_What will my daughter think of me? And Lucina, and her father..!...I should at least let them say good-bye... No, they would probably try to to stop me, and... There is no way they'd be unaffected by watching this..._

Taking notice of how distracted her brother was, Mary knew she needed to encourage him somehow. Her throat felt frozen, as though in anticipation of the damage it was to receive, requiring her to move something else to alert Robin...

_Trying to escape? No way, Mary... _  
_You're mine now...!_

Without waiting any longer, Robin held his breath, closed his eyes, and in one quick slice opened his sister's throat. He made sure to cut deeply enough to break her vocal cords- not wishing to hear any screams or garbled final phrases- but the gushing blood stopped him halfway through. Mary felt her consciousness blank away as the red fluid splashed onto the grass below her and ran down her front like water. Robin rushed to grab her when her legs gave way, yet she slid out of his grasp and landed on her side, eyes tightly shut but still obviously breathing.

Wanting Mary's remaining time to pass quickly, Robin placed his hands across his sister's chest and put firm pressure against it. The dying tactitian could make little noise, yet she seemed to be trying to hold herself still instead of writhing or thrashing. Robin didn't desire to think about the pain she was enduring, though he could discern an ill feeling within him as the horror continued.

Daring to look at his sister's face, Robin's own breathing stopping when he her expression. It wasn't terror, despair, anger, or even grief-it was _relief..._There was no mistaking the lack of fear...

Before Robin knew for sure he was seeing reality, Mary had become still. Now, her face was blank and on the brink of visibly fading in color, the rasping noises she had made silenced.

It was done.

* * *

When the baffled unicorn turned his head, catching sight of his master, Morphine jumped back in surprise. What was his master doing on the ground? Was she tired? Curiously, the unicorn nudged his master's side with his soft nose, but she didn't move or make any noise, even a sigh. He heard a strange sound coming from Mary's brother, who was hiding his face. Becoming more confused, Morphine gave a muffled snort and lightly slapped Robin's side with a wing to stir him.

But Robin wouldn't break out of his trance. Frustrated, Morphine stepped away from his master and began to pace around her, wondering why she still wouldn't acknowledge him. He started to whinny faintly, hoping to hear her say something-anything, it didn't matter what- to him again...

Without warning two long legs became tangled around each other, and Morphine couldn't regain his balance before hitting the ground. He would not stand up again. Instead he spread a wide, feathered wing over his master, nearly covering her, and rested his head against her side. Morphine then closed his brown eyes, sighing softly. So Mary was tired. He just needed to keep her warm, it was a rather cold night.

Robin eventually nudged Morphine awake when his silent breakdown horse either wouldn't or, possibly, couldn't move, and Robin resorted to attempting to ease his sister's body from Morphine's embrace. He didn't protest with much enthusiasm, but it was nevertheless difficult to pick Mary up- she was almost a foot shorter than her brother and much lighter, yet the entirety of her body was ruddy and damp with stains. Holding her so easily, Robin had that familiar sense of vulnerability his sister often showed. She was as small as her own son, and could so easily be mistaken for a child when she was actually a young woman.

"Come, Morphine. We're going back to camp."

Robin's words were so quiet that Morphine appeared to ignore him again. The unicorn continued to stare at the stains on the grass, lowering his head so much his nose was an inch from the blood puddles and his spine jutted up prominently between his shoulders. Robin spoke again, a little louder, but Morphine failed to obey again. He had been in this posture before, which signified he was unwilling to do anything at the moment.

In truth, Robin felt the same. If anyone failed to believe his story about Mary's death, he would almost invariably be exposed- and then what would happen to him? And what would Morgan make of the situation? What about Lucina? What about Robin's own two daughters? The strong-willed royal would be devestated by the loss of her mother, that much was certain, but Robin knew how powerful her hatred of the fell dragon was. Unfortunately, Morgan would have no such reluctant animosity towards his mother- the grief would hit him at full force...

The only thing that drove Robin to head back was the approaching greyish clouds that brought the omen of rain. Knowing the water would spoil Mary's body even further than its current state, Robin started to walk, his heart feeling as heavy as the corpse in his arms. Morphine didn't follow, or even react in a noticeable way. Robin did see that the flames consuming Rain's body had almost died as he vanished back onto the faint trail.

_Like me. Like Mary, I came in here with my fire bright and strong. Now it's barely giving off warmth anymore..._

Morgan waited anxiously at the camp's entrance. It was well after dark, and yet none of the three units who had left earlier for... _training_, Morgan supposed... None of them were back yet. Though this wasn't highly abnormal among the Brave Swords, the recent attack on Severa which nearly cost her life was enough to make the normally cheery and carefree boy rather worried. Not to mention, the breaking of the Kori staff didn't help matters...

"Hey! Morgan, is that you?" A sharp voice broke into Morgan's thoughts, and he turned to see Rain emerging through the small space between two sturdy trees that served as an entry. She was not injured, but when Morgan glanced ahead to see if anyone was following, no one else appeared.

"Yeah,where's Robin and Mary?" Morgan inquired casually, squinting a little. It was quite dark by now, the only source of light from the re-ignited torch Moragn held. "Did they fall behind?"

"...Yes. They'll be here in... in a minute." Rain said, quietly. Morgan smiled, happy that he would be able to get off guard duty soon. "Good to hear, anything come up?"

"Well, Morphine ran off suddenly. We couldn't quite pin him down..." Rain said a little unsteadily, knowing she wasn't entirely lying to Morgan. She honestly did not want to see Morgan's face when he would see his mother...

"I see, do you think we should look for him tomorrow?" Morgan asked again. "...Hey! Rain, I think that's them!"

At those words, Rain seemed to become frozen. She hung her head and began a sigh, but did not finish it. Morgan stared at her in surprise- were her hands _trembling_?

"Rain, what's wrong?" Morgan cried, unnerved by Rain's sudden shift in attitude. He put an arm around her shoulders and tried to look at her face. Rain wasn't just upset- she had actually started to cry,and when she had felt Morgan touch her she pulled away immediately. Bewildered, Morgan hesitantly began, "Did something..."

Morgan did not finish his sentence. Morgan did not speak in a normal voice for so long after he caught sight of what his uncle was holding as he walked slowly towards his confused nephew and the now-sobbing Rain. Morgan's mother was little more than a bundle of bloody robes in her brother's arms, looking so small next to him that Robin might have held a baby.

Robin was silent as he stood next to Morgan and lightly extended his arms. Without preamble, he spoke in a husky, shivering tone: "...Morgan, your mother took... She took her own life. Myself and R-Rain tried to... to save..." (Robin wasn't completely acting, either; the expression on Morgan's face and the sounds of Rain's sobs were enough to bring about sadness in anyone.)

"Wait, she's... Y-You're not serious..." Morgan whimpered, feeling more disbelief with each word when he looked at his mother's ashen face. He at last took her from Robin's arms, getting onto his knees and laying her face in his lap. Morgan needed to take no vital signs to ensure his mother was dead, and already the tears began to spill from his closed eyes.

"N-No... Mary... _Open your eyes_, please... You can't leave, not without... Without saying good-bye..."

Morgan's mother never again opened her eyes. The Kori staff the Brave Swords had been entrusted with was broken; no other item was ever known to revive the dead. Mary was truly dead, and she would stay truly dead for the rest of Morgan's lifetime, for the rest of all the Brave Sword's lifetimes. Never again would Mary open her eyes, hold her son, or speak a single word.

Robin stayed where he was for a long time, crying softly and honestly into his own arms. Now he regretted his decision. Only two units had become aware of Mary's death so far- how much worse would their grief be when all would know? And this was all his fault. Perhaps Mary had been the one who murdered Rain several times over, but now _he _was the one who had murdered _Mary. _He would have to guard this secret for the remainder of his time with the Brave Swords- not even Lucina could ever know of this.

_Farewell, Mary..._

_Perhaps you and I were never meant to become part of this. It is nothing but a confusing mess now, with despair at every corner..._

_I am sorry for taking you away._


End file.
